Now that OS X Yosemite has officially stepped out of public beta mode and into prime time, I’m sure you’re itching to give it a go. But before you begin the installation process, there’s one question you need to answer: Can your Mac actually run Yosemite?

Luckily, if you’re already running Mavericks (Mac OS X 10.9) on your Mac, that same Mac is compatible with Yosemite—Mavericks and Yosemite have the same system requirements. Apple confirmed that your Mac requires 2GB of RAM and 8GB of free storage space for the installation.

If you’re not sure how much memory or available storage your Mac has, it's easy to find out. Go to your Apple menu, select About This Mac, and look for the Memory listing to see how much RAM your Mac has. For storage, click More Options, and then click the Storage tab. You'll see a handy breakdown of how much of your Mac's storage is being used, and what is taking up so much space.

To install Yosemite, you’ll download the OS directly from the Mac App Store through a free upgrade. That means if you’re not running Mavericks, you need to be on a version of OS X that has the Mac App Store: Snow Leopard (OS X 10.6), Lion (OS X 10.7), or Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8). If you’re on any version of OS X between Snow Leopard and Mavericks, all you need to do is launch the Mac App Store and look for Yosemite. (If your Mac is still running OS X 10.5 Leopard, your installation will be tricky, but not impossible. Our Mavericks installation guide can walk you through the process.)

As for the machine itself, here’s Apple’s list of Macs that will support Yosemite:

Leah Yamshon has been a part of the Macworld family since 2011. She started out covering iOS accessories (So. Many. Cases.) and Mac software, then moved on to all things iOS. She now works behind-the-scenes to keep Macworld's calendar full.